


Bears & Fireflies

by vivilove



Series: Jonsa Summer Challenge 17 [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Camping, F/M, Friendship/Love, Jonsa Summer Challenge, Nature, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-20 08:44:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11332350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivilove/pseuds/vivilove
Summary: Jon and Sansa are best friends and, when Sansa who has never gone camping learns that Jon is going camping alone on a trip he had planned months ago back when he was dating someone else, she offers to go with him for company...and to protect him from bears.





	Bears & Fireflies

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr for the Jonsa Summer Challenge-Day 2 Nature

“You can’t be serious,” Jon whispered across the table in the library where they’d been studying together.

“Why would you say it like that? I like the outdoors,” Sansa pouted.

“Since when?”

“Since always, you jerk.”

“Sansa…”

“Camping, Jon. I’d like to go camping with you. That is…unless you don’t want my company,” she said with a frown and a hint of hurt feelings.

 _I always want your company_. “No!” he said too loudly and they were swiftly shushed by those around them. “I do want your company…if you want to go,” he said more quietly. “I just figured no one else would be that interested in seeing fireflies get it on with me.”

“Okay, first of all, since you have to enter a damned lottery to even get a spot to go see the fireflies get it on, plenty of people are obviously interested. You’ve had your spot reserved for months now and you should get to go.”

“Well, I was going to go anyway.”

“Well, you shouldn’t go alone,” she argued. “What would you do if there were bears?”

“What are _you_ going to do if there’s bears, Sansa?” he snickered in response, getting shushed by strangers again and his shin kicked by Sansa.

“I’m going with you,” she said with that steely glint in her eye that he recognized very well.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Sansa was his dearest friend. He had known her since they were both kids. Her brother had been his best friend growing up and, in many ways, Sansa had seemed like a little sister back then. But Robb had gone away for school and Sansa had ended up going to the same school as Jon. _She_ was his best friend now.

Nevertheless, she was his best friend that had never expressed any interest in camping before and now suddenly wanted to go with him on this trip. Jon suspected he knew why.

He had broken up with Ygritte three months earlier. This trip had been planned four months ago to coincide with the breeding period of the synchronous fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains. At the time, he had thought it’d be a nice get away for the two of them. Ygritte had always loved the outdoors as much as Jon did. It was a common interest that had brought them together in the first place. Quite literally since they’d met during a sale at REI.

But Sansa…well, Jon wasn’t sure that Sansa knew what REI was.

Sansa had been worried about him since the break-up. He was fine honestly. Him and Ygritte had both loved the outdoors but their personalities didn’t click so well beyond that.

Of course, Sansa would still worry because that’s just how she was. Just as he had been worried for her when she had broken up with Harry over Christmas. Okay, secretly he’d been happy because that guy wasn’t fit to kiss the ground she walked on but still…he worried. That’s what best friends did, right?

He could’ve just skipped the trip but he really didn’t want to even if it meant going alone. He thought that perhaps it would be an opportunity to reflect on some things…like why Ygritte had never liked Sansa and why she had said the things she did about her the night they had broken up. And why hadn’t he acted on those things yet. Ygritte was more right than she knew.

So yeah…his feelings for Sansa had crossed beyond friend zone a while ago. He’d been afraid to admit it though because he didn’t want to lose his best friend. So, he’d been silently pining and cursing himself as a coward for not coming out and saying anything.

But now Sansa would be going with him…camping…overnight…alone. Jon wasn’t sure if he was more excited or frightened by the thoughts of that.

 

* * *

 

 

Three weeks later, the morning of their excursion arrived. Jon drove to Sansa’s place to pick her up. His bag and camping supplies were all neatly packed for two nights of roughing it. Robb had bet money that Sansa wouldn’t make it through one night, let alone two. Jon had his doubts as well but he’d taken her brother up on that bet. She was obviously doing this for him so he felt he should stick up for her.

Sansa came outside with a huge grin, toting an extremely overstuffed back pack over her shoulder while holding her sleeping bag in her other arm. Jon grinned to himself and got out of his truck to help her pare down some of her excessive packing.

“What? I like to be prepared for all possibilities,” she scoffed.

“We won’t need swimsuits, Sansa,” he said as he rifled through her bag.

“That’s not a swimsuit, Jon,” she said while smirking at him.

 _Oh shit…those are panties_. “Uh…sorry,” he said as he carefully put the silky black undies back where he found them…and tried not to think about stealing them. “Ah ha!” he shouted a minute later. “Well, this is,” he said, pulling out the red bikini bottoms with a Perry Mason-type flourish.

He recognized them from last summer when the Stark’s had hosted a pool party on the 4th. They’d ended up playing chicken fight in the pool with Robb and his girlfriend, Jeyne. Sansa had sat on his shoulders with that exact pair of bikini bottoms on. He’d ‘stumbled’ and Sansa had gone down with a great splash before Jeyne even touched her…not long after he became aware of her thighs wrapped around his neck. He’d then spent the next twenty minutes in the deep end convincing himself that his hard-on was merely awkward timing and not at all to do with Sansa.

_I was delusional last summer._

“There might be a creek,” she shrugged.

“We can wade in the water without suits, Sans.” Two ginger brows shot up and her face took on an incredulous look. “Fine…keep the suit. What’s in here?” he asked next pulling out a floral make-up bag. “You don’t need make-up.” _Ever._

“Oh that! Uh…it’s not make-up. It’s…uh…bear repellant.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Okay, but I packed some of that, too…just in case,” he added at her startled look.

After she allowed him to remove exactly two items from her bag, one being a hairdryer which even Sansa conceded was an unnecessary choice, they got into his truck.

Before he could put the truck in reverse, she cleared her throat and took his hand.

“Jon…” she began solemnly. _Holy shit…is she…could she feel the same way about me as I feel about_ … “Tell me the truth and don’t sugar-coat it for my sake.” _Oh, my God. Yes, I_ _love you, too. I’m an idiot for not saying it soon-_ “Will there be bears?”

He laughed. He couldn’t help it. While part of him had hoped for a different sort of conversation, she was his best friend and she was going camping with him…for him…even though she was the most indoor-type of girl he could imagine in many ways.

“Well, we are heading to their backyard, honey.”

She laughed with him then. “Bears…honey,” she sniggered.

“Well, they’re not like Winnie the Pooh but we should be just fine.” He held onto her hand and said, “But if there are bears or snakes or random banjo-playing psychopaths out there, I’ll protect you. I promise.”

Sansa flushed a lovely shade of pink and said, “Okay, let’s go see fireflies get busy.”

Five hours later, they sat side by side on a log at their campsite. She had managed the hike well considering her boots were still new but now she had her shoes off and was stretching her long legs after they had eaten their spartan meal.

Jon kept glancing at her. It was hard not to stare at Sansa. She looked gorgeous. She was anyway but seeing her out here amongst the green trees, wild rhododendrons and blue mountains brought that fact back to him yet again.

The awe-inspiring beauty of nature only enhanced Sansa’s natural beauty. She wore no make-up, her fiery red hair was plaited in a simple braid, she wore a lightweight, chambray blue button-down over a navy blue Direwolves tank top and olive shorts. Her cheeks held a healthy glow from their excursion and there was a slight pink tinge to her nose from the sun. Jon wondered if there might be another freckle there soon. He hoped so.

As dusk began to turn to night, Sansa grew uneasy in the woods. Jon could understand. The night noises here were so different than in town. There was no ambient light from street lights or car headlights to keep true darkness at bay. And all around them, it was impossible to ignore the nightlife of the forests; creeping, crawling, walking and stalking through the woods at night were all manner of creatures great and small.

It was warm and they didn’t need a fire but Sansa shivered and he put his arm around her.

“It’s okay.”

“I know,” she said nestling into his side. “It’s just so isolated and vast out here, you know?”

“It is but there are other people camping not too far away from us. And I’ve got the flashlight right here if we need it. We’re just fine, okay?”

She nodded and said, “Jon?”

“Yeah, Sansa?”

“Just don’t let go of me, okay?”

“Never,” he swore.

He felt her body relax and soon after their lightshow began. Just a few random flickers at first in the distance. But then slowly the number of yellowish flashes of lights in the woods grew. Soon they were blinking in time all around them. And then one section would light up simultaneously while another part of the woods would do so the second after those lights went out. Sansa grasped his arm and pointed. He could hear her breathing quick and shallow. His own breath felt a bit short, too.

For two hours they sat on the log together watching the forest fireflies put on a display for them as they sought their mates. Jon kept his arm around Sansa the whole time though her fear had been replaced by wonder ages ago.

“That was amazing,” she said as Jon turned on the flashlight and they made their way into the tent to go to sleep later. “Thank you for letting me tag along.”

“No, Sansa…thank you. I’m really glad you came. You being here has made this far more special than if I had come alone.”

“You’re welcome,” she said giving him a hug. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?” she asked then.

She had started to pull out of the embrace but Jon tightened his arms around her and held her.

“Yes,” he responded before he leaned in and kissed her lips. He pulled back to gage her reaction. By the light of the flashlight, he could see her faint smile blossom into a full-fledged grin. “I hope you didn’t mind that,” he said, grinning in return.

“No, I didn’t mind,” she sighed. Before he could lean in to kiss her once more, she said, “I only wished you’d done it sooner.”

He laughed and said, “Me, too. I’ll try and make up for it tonight then.”

They sat on top of his sleeping bag. Jon held her gently by the waist with one hand and cupped her face, kissing her deep and lovingly.

It grew stuffy in the tent and Jon shed his shirt and Sansa shed her button-down. They whispered words of promise and devotion to each other, words long held close but now let loose.

Jon laid his best friend back on the sleeping bag and their kisses became more heated. He wanted her so badly but he hadn’t anticipated this.

“I don’t have a condom,” he said miserably as Sansa tugged at his jeans. She was already down to her tank-top and panties.

“Good thing I packed some then.”

“You did?” he asked in sweet relief.

“Yep…right next to the bear repellent.”


End file.
